Art, Dance, Drinks

When we tired of Friday night’s hustle and bustle, Stephanie and I took leave of our comrades and headed over to the Hotel Bijou, as this weekend, come rain or shine, we were going to explore the city. A little more.

We woke up late Saturday, gobbled down half a loaf of banana bread (that Stephanie had made and brought with!), and walked down Market to the SFMOMA. Stephanie had never been, and I was quite happy to go back after visiting with my sister last month. We stopped in at the Caffe Museo for a little salad and pizza before beginning our arting.

Two of my favorites from their collection are Roy Lichtenstein’s Rouen Cathedral Set V (after Monet)

and Diego Rivera’s The Flower Carrier

Of course don’t forget the beyond wonderful Calder exhibit—which runs through May 21, 2006. I especially liked his wire sculpture of two acrobats that appeared both flat and three dimensional, no matter what angle you viewed it from, and these two amazingly balanced floor mobiles towards the end, and…

We stayed till our eyes were dry from looking at so much and our legs were sore from walking the four floors of art. That and the museum was about to close.

Dinner was a spicy curry and kebabs at an Indian and Pakastani restaurant outside our hotel. We went back to our room to dress up a little, then hopped a cab over to see Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the Orpheum Theater.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s dancing = complex. Oh my god. And if you can’t tell by the graphic at the right, this was Swan Lake with a twist—which I’m beginning to realize is how Stephanie likes her dancing. The Swan was played by a male dancer, there was homoeroticism, sensuality, humor, and well, violence. And did I mention complicated, intricate dancing involving a dozen or more people on stage?

Afterwards we went out in search of bar with a view, eventually making our way to the aptly named View Lounge on the 39th floor of the Marriott Hotel. We had mojitos (which I think is my new drink of choice) and a bite of chocolate before heading back to our hotel to collapse.